Gadgets should make life easier. So why can’t I turn on this no-touch tap? | Adrian Chiles

Technology can change the world for the better - or make it weirdly complicated, as I learned from my parents' new car and an attempt to quench my thirst

I keep hearing that we're reassessing everything about our lives now there's a ghost of a chance that we're coming out of the other side of the pandemic. May I suggest something pertaining to the march of technological progress: please can all of you who are engaged in the invention of things restrict yourselves to inventing stuff that we actually need? You know, things like vaccines and batteries that actually last a long time, and sustainable sources of cheap fuel. Stop wasting your time on things we neither needed nor asked for and which actually make things harder rather than easier.

Take the boots, or tailgates, of cars. We used to click them open manually without any effort or fuss. A little click and up they went; a little push down and with a clunk they closed. Then we were given switches to open tailgates remotely. OK then, if you must. Now there are buttons that you simply must press to get them to close on their own, rather than push them down manually. Why?